DJI Unveils FlightHub Software for Enterprise Drone Management

In a significant move for the drone industry, hardware giant DJI has made the move into operations management software. FlightHub is a fully-integrated, web-based management solution that helps businesses oversee live operations.

So what’s the FlightHub software solution all about? The idea is to help enterprises and drone service providers efficiently manage operations from a single platform. FlightHub’s focus is the secure management of real-time drone operations, flight data, drone fleets and pilot teams.

“As commercial use of drone technology increases each day, businesses need a solution that lets them scale their operations quickly and efficiently manage their growing fleets and teams across multiple locations,” said Jan Gasparic, DJI’s Head of Enterprise Partnerships.

“FlightHub is the first solution of its kind that empowers businesses to manage their drone operations in one place, securely, within seconds and from remote locations.”

Drone Operations Management in One Place, in Real Time

FlightHub has been designed to be futureproof. Right now, the scale of commercial drone operations is on the up. So today it can provide businesses with a way to join all of the dots, with a clear, centralized view of drone operations. Its aim is to assist easy collaboration between pilots on site and analysts back at base. Two features, the Map View and the Real-Time View, display telemetry, camera and sensor data for faster, more informed decision making.

The Map View gives offsite teams live, map-based telemetry data of all drone operations to make it easier to coordinate simultaneous flights and multiple teams. Information from DJI’s geofencing system is also displayed to ensure all users have access to up-to-date guidance on areas where flight may be limited due to safety concerns or regulations.

Real-Time View gives offsite teams live video feeds from up to four onsite drones. This is designed for teams that require onsite pilots to work closely with a team offsite, for example relaying information to engineers.

Enterprise Flight Data Securely Stored in the US

In recent months there have been plenty of stories about DJI and data security, particularly with regards to sensitive commercial operations. As well as syncing and storing drone flight data on a searchable database, FlightHub’s web access and cloud storage runs on a US-based Amazon Web Services server, which should help put to bed any doubts about who or indeed where sensitive data is going.

FlightHub data management operations have been pre-assessed in accordance with SOC2 AICPA standards. Future versions of FlightHub will have the option to integrate with private clouds for organizations that demand the highest level of data security.

The BNSF View

“When we first started the drone program at BNSF, we had to develop a lot of processes from scratch, including the tasks of manually logging flights and conducting checks to ensure each team out on the field was following maintenance instructions at all times,” said Nick Dryer, UAS Field Ops Manager at BNSF, one of the largest freight railroad network operators in North America.

“FlightHub has made our program significantly easier to manage by providing a full view of real-time operations and internal communications in one platform. This solution has given us the opportunity to further expand the use of this new technology in an old industry.”

Price and Availability

FlightHub is accessible through web browsers and data is securely transmitted from the DJI Pilot mobile app for Android running on a user’s mobile device or DJI CrystalSky monitor. The SaaS platform is compatible with the DJI’s Matrice 200 series enterprise drones as well as the DJI Mavic Pro, DJI Phantom 4 series and DJI Inspire 2 drones.

FlightHub will be available by subscription to enterprise customers worldwide through the DJI online store, with pre-orders starting November 7. Monthly subscriptions will be offered in three tiers:

Basic: Bind up to 5 drones with all features (excluding real-time view). Priced at $99 USD per month or $999 annually.

Advanced: Bind up to 10 drones with all features of the Basic plan plus real-time view. Priced at $299 USD per month or $2,999 annually.

Enterprise: Bind more than 10 drones with all features of the Advanced plan plus the ability to integrate data into a private cloud in the future. Please contact a DJI Enterprise dealer directly to purchase the Enterprise plan.

DJI invites users to participate in FlightHub’s open beta period from November 14 to December 14. Interested customers will be provided with a free Basic account for the duration of the beta period. Customers who pre-ordered FlightHub will be able to activate the service after the open beta period has ended. For more information on FlightHub or to register your interest in participating in the open beta, click here.